The Yellow Canary
by Apple Turnover
Summary: AkuRoku. Axel gives a canary to Roxas to make his room less empty.


The canary was too cute for words. It's puffy cheeks squished down every time it looked down at him and started to chirp a song of affection. Upon the start of the song Roxas poked his finger between the bars. He smiled as the finger received gentle love bites.

"Hey Roxas, look what I got for you!" Axel exclaimed in a proud excitement. Roxas put his book down on the pages, depending on gravity to hold his page, and turned on his bed to see what Axel was going on about now. "You said your room felt empty and isolated, so I got this bird for you. He's yellow, so it'll make the room less...well...white...and he can keep you company if you need it!" he explained, happy with what he had done.

Axel waited for a reaction. Roxas looked at the delicate yellow thing, and a small smile came to his face.

"Thanks Axel!" he cooed, as his friend set the small brass wired cage down on his dresser. There was a metallic echo of the cage against the surface of the drawer, and the bird fluttered its wings.

"Yeah, just remember to let him out so he can fly around every once in a while." Axel informed.

Against the complete hospital white that engulfed his entire room, the yellow bird and the brassy cage were the only thing that stood out. The room felt a little bit less empty.

"Hi Sunny." Roxas greeted the tiny canary after he got back from his mission. Xemnas had given Axel another assignment, so he was expected to return much later.

Roxas dropped himself face first onto the mattress with a springy thud. "I'm so sick of this. I feel totally trapped. It's the same thing day in and day out. All everyone cares about is getting to the top and using the organization as a facade." Roxas looked at his bird.

Roxas knew that the bird had no idea what he was saying, further proven by the jerking motion in the tilt of his head. "Not like your in some sort of stupid bird organization..."

"Hey Roxas I'm ba--" Axel informed upon his arrival from his mission. Roxas was nowhere to be found.

Axel started looking around frantically _Oh god. Where did he go? Did something happen to him?_ He looked to his right, and then his left, hoping, _wishing _ that his little blonde was just hiding somewhere in the corner of his eye.

"Dammit..." he clenched his fist as his heart started beating at a much faster rate. Nothing good will come out of this... He began walking, slowly picking up his pace to a full out run. _Where the hell did he go?_ His mind immediately traveled to the worst consequences that could come out of this

He ran almost aimlessly throughout the castle until he came across another blonde organization member with hair spiked straight up.

"Demyx!" he shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders. Demyx stared back at him in blank confusion. "Have you seen Roxas? Do you know what happened to him?" Demyx replied with a confused look.

"I didn't really know he was gone...I mean. I think I saw him with that bird a little less than an hour ago... You could probably still catch him, I don't think he was planning to go too far away." he explained to the best of his knowledge.

Frustrated, Axel let go of Demyx, and huffed, then took off again.

"Dammit Roxas, what are you doing?"

_Nobody will come to save me._

As hopelessness welled up in his mind, everything was starting to become lost within a frantic terror.

_But I wish they would._

Golden red alleyway light permeated the sunset blue only slightly, leaving everything else slightly more ominous than if there had been no light to start with. Roxas sat down on one of the rotting wood packaging crates that lined the alleyway and tried to think, setting the bird cage on the ground next to him. Why did he even start running to begin with? He had nothing much to fear.

He huddled up inside his knees, his body beginning to feel a deep chill.

"Oh god. This is so freaking stupid." he mumbled to himself.

There was a clanging flutter as the canary began to get restless, flying around where there was no room. He was going berserk.

"H-Hey! Sunny! Calm down. It's OK!" he cooed, hushing the bird, though it didn't seem to be helping at all. "Sunny, calm down. I'll get you out of there"

Roxas picked up the cage from the ground, setting it on his lap. The bird was still going crazy, holding onto the wiring with his tiny pale orange feet, and still flapping it's wings like it would die otherwise.

He unhatched the cage and grabbed his little bird friend. "Sunny, it's OK." he cooed. Squirming, the bird tried to free itself from Roxas's hand. Squealing, a sound almost as if it were in pain. Roxas looked at Sunny, saddened and slightly pained.

"Sunny. If I let you fly here, I might never see you again." he reasoned, almost begging the bird to calm down and receive his friendship. "Sunny, please..."

Roxas's eyes started to form tears, as he was bitten and scratched by his friend.

Roxas felt a gap inside his chest open up where he figured his heart would be. That is to say, if he had a heart. It felt sad and empty as he lifted up the bird and opened his cupped hands.

Without any hesitation, Sunny fluttered out of his hands, trailing loose yellow feathers behind him.

Roxas couldn't hold back anymore, sliding back onto the alley wall on that rotting crate. He felt the wet sadness roll down his cheeks. It was completely dark. Now he was completely alone.

"What am I even doing?" he asked the ground through tears. His back shook rhythmically as he let each breath out.

"Roxas?" there was that voice. "Holy-- Roxas thank god you're OK."

"Axel?" Roxas asked, surprised, he ran over to hug his friend. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he whispered into Axel's chest. Axel started at him in surprise, patting Roxas on the back soothingly.

"Hey, hey. What's there to be sorry about? Just got a little lost, right?" he laughed, pretending it wasn't a big deal, hoping not to let out that he'd actually been worried to the point he considered getting some other organization members to help look.

"No. Sunny. I accidentally let him go." he said despairingly.

"I know, it's OK. I saw him fly away." he sighed. "It's how I was able to find you in the first place. You're lucky!"

Roxas buried himself in Axel's organization cloak.

"Roxas, it's OK, look." He said, pulling Roxas off of himself, and smiling into the boy's big blue eyes. He places a loving kiss on Roxas's lips, still smiling. Roxas kissed him back through the tears.

His nobody was here to save him.


End file.
